There’s a simple way to make children more fit. It’s called the Daily Mile.

If you haven’t heard of the Daily Mile yet, your time has come. Now taking place in 3,600 primary schools each day in 35 countries around the world, it takes children outside during normal lesson time to run or walk laps of the playground for 15 minutes. The ones who run cover around a mile each day.

The initiative has an endearing backstory. It was developed six years ago by St. Ninians Primary School in Stirling in central Scotland after children and teachers felt the pupils needed to be fitter.

Other schools quickly realized the value, and it started to spread. It is now happening in around half of Scottish primaries and a quarter of those in England, along with schools in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Australia.

With all this enthusiasm, it was time for researchers to ask the obvious question: Is it really worth doing? We have been part of a collaboration between the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh that has published the first results.

Read the full article on the Washington Post